The invention relates to the area of appliances (generally referred to as beverage dispensers herein) that prepare a beverage via extraction of food substances through the passage of an extraction fluid, such as hot or cold water, under pressure. The food substance, such as coffee or tea, is contained in consumables that are inserted in these appliances. A beverage may thus generally be coffee, tea, soup, hot or cold chocolate, milk or baby food. Such a beverage making device is e.g. disclosed in WO 2005/053485 A1. Said beverage making device comprises a brewing chamber (hereinafter also called “chamber”) for enclosing one or more pads containing a substance from which the beverage is to be brewed, means for supplying water to said brewing chamber, and means for conducting the brewed beverage from the brewing chamber.
More and more types and flavors of these beverages are introduced which creates a new opportunity for innovation. When the type of beverage or ingredient is recognized the appliance can automatically optimize the brewing parameters including one or more of time, temperature, pressure, flow and cup volume to the consumable offered to the appliance. Such a system for the production of beverages is e.g. disclosed in WO 2013/046149 A1, which system comprises a beverage dispenser and a pod to be inserted in the beverage dispenser for the passage of the extraction liquid of the beverage. The pod includes a filtering body (also referred to as substance containing body) which defines a space that contains the food substance from which the beverage is obtained. The filtering body has on the outside a flange. There is a recognition element associated to the filtering body which can be recognized and/or interpreted by a recognition device of the beverage dispenser.
The consumables (also called single-serve units) currently in use are basically of two types. One type of consumable is generally called a “capsule” and is basically a unit with rigid walls containing the food substance and that has two bases through which the extraction water passes. The capsules are placed into chambers defined by two bodies, one shaped to receive most of the capsule and a closing body which tightly seals the chamber. The water is introduced into the chamber and then traverses the capsule. Thanks to the rigid shape of the capsule, the hydraulic seals of the chamber allow the water to basically traverse the capsule without recirculating the extracted substance through the chamber.
A second type of consumable of a flat shape, is generally called a “pod” (or “pad”) and consists of two sections made of thin soft material, pierced, paired in order to define a cavity in which the food substance is placed. The material may be for example paper, or a cloth or a non-woven fabric with filtering properties. The two sections are generally circular and are coupled along their outer edges, defining an outer annular flange. The machines which use pods have two half-shells which are sealed to define a chamber where the pod is placed. Specifically, the annular flange of the pod is squeezed, for sealing, between the opposite surfaces of the half-shells, defined outside the chamber.
For most appliances, the brewing parameters are fixed and therefore the same for each beverage. Other appliances can have manual settings, but these have to be adjusted by the user for each type of beverage. When a consumable (in particular its type, i.e. which type of food substance is held within the consumable, e.g. whether it is coffee, decaffeinated coffee, coffee distinguished by grind fineness, roast, blend, flavor, etc.) is recognized automatically by the appliance, the settings can be adjusted automatically. This increases the user convenience. Furthermore, the brewing process is correctly adjusted for each consumable type so that the optimal beverage is created.
EP 1 974 638 A1 discloses a beverage dispenser for preparation of a beverage by use of a consumable in the form of capsules. The beverage dispenser comprises a recognition system which is able to distinguish different types of capsules by use of a color coding provided to the capsules. According to WO 2013/072297 A1 and WO 2012/062842 A1 optically readable codes, in particular barcodes, are provided at the different types of capsules to distinguish them. The device disclosed in EP 2 409 608 A1 measures the position of the end of a rod sliding in a shaft to distinguish different sizes of capsules. WO 2005/044067 A1 discloses an apparatus including an optical and/or magnetic reader for reading information off a container, wherein said information is invisible to the naked eye.